Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs.

Psychedelic music draws its inspiration from the experience of mind-altering drugs such as cannabis, psilocybin, mescaline, ecstasy and especially LSD. Characteristic features of the style include modal melodies, lengthy instrumental solos, esoteric lyrics and "trippy" special effects such as reversed, distorted, delayed and/or phased sounds.

The first group to advertise themselves as psychedelic rock were the 13th Floor Elevators from Texas, at the end of 1965. The term was first used in print in the Austin Statesman in an article about the band titled "Unique Elevators shine with psychedelic rock", dated 10 February 1966, and theirs was the first album to use the term as part of its title, in "The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators", released in August that year.

In the United States, psychedelic music was particularly characteristic of the West Coast sound, with bands such as the Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, Country Joeand The Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Vanilla Fudge, Tommy James and the Shondells and Jefferson Airplane in the vanguard.